'We must consider unilateral Samaria-Judea withdrawal'

Jerusalem Newswire
May 30, 2012

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak stated Wednesday he is in favor of a unilateral Israeli handover of Samaria and Judea to the Palestinian Arabs if the “peace process” remains stalled.
According to the website of the ultra-left Israeli daily Ha’aretz, Barak sees in the newly broadened governing coalition an opportunity for finally making progress in the long-stymied “peace talks” with the Palestinian Arabs.

"We are a coalition of 94 MKs, this is the time to lead a diplomatic process," Barak told an audience at the Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies.
If it was not possible to reach a permanent agreement with the Arabs, he continued, Israel must be ready to consider “even a unilateral move."

Samaria-Judea – universally labeled with the anti-Israel epithet “the occupied West Bank” – comprises the strategic high terrain dominating Israel’s densely populated and industry-heavy Coastal Plain. Israel’s lone international airport – Ben Gurion – is within shoulder-launched missile range of the Judean foothills.
Samaria-Judea is also the cradle of Israel’s nationhood, and is home to more than 10 percent of Israel’s population (600,000) in 121 towns, villages and outposts.

Barak employed fear mongering to bolster his argument.
"We are on borrowed time. We will reach a wall, and we'll pay the price. People who are now in a coma will then ask how we didn't see [this coming]," he added.

Former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon is – ironically – in a coma after overseeing the unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip in 2005.

See today’s column on “Jerusalem Watchman”
also see:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/09/05/world/middleeast/challenges-in-defining-an-israeli-palestinian-border.html